A Monte Carlo simulation is presented to describe the electron transport behaviours in the nitrogen direct current glow discharge. The energy and angular distributions of the electrons at different positions of the cathode dark space are calculated; their energy and density distribution features throughout the entire discharge are discussed. The influence of molecular vibrational excitation, typical for electron-molecule collisions, has been studied and the elementary process of active species generation has been illustrated. The simulated results reveal that, in the cathode dark space, the high-energy electrons are mainly forward scattering and behave as a high-energy ‘electron beam’. The sharp increase of the number of secondary electrons plays an important role in producing active species at the interface between the cathode dark space and the negative glow region. The vibrational excitation enhances the energy loss of electrons in the negative glow region.